HIFIMAN Audivina LE Review — Headfonics

Louis reviews the HIFIMAN Audivina LE, an affordable 2nd-gen set of closed-back planar magnetic driver headphones, currently priced at $399.

Disclaimer: I received this sample in exchange for my honest opinion. Headfonics is an independent website with no affiliate links or status. I want to thank the team at HIFIMAN for their support.

Click here to read more about the HIFIMAN products previously reviewed on Headfonics.

This article follows our current scoring guidelines, which you can read in more detail here.

HIFIMAN Audivina LE Review

Summary

The HIFIMAN Audivina is an affordable closed-back planar magnetic headphone that sound surprisingly wide, and deliver a pleasing sound signature that veers away from being overly bright.

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8.6

Pros

A HIFIMAN closed back that’s properly tuned.

Three stock cables included.

Velcro attached pads.

Cons

Might present fit issues for people with large heads.

Centric vocal presentation.

Studio monitor headphones are commonly labeled as pallid because they’re designed to sound flat and revealing in contrast to some that cater to sonic enjoyment.

HIFIMAN recently had a go at the segment with the release of the Audivina and simultaneously introduced another closed-back headphone into today’s market. It became a controversial headphone, nonetheless.

I took a mid-way stance with the Audivina since I went in knowing it was a studio monitor that usually translates into a non-dramatic signature, not counting some oddities.

But most prefer open-back headphones, and in combination with a studio monitor tuning, it wasn’t a euphonious combination.

The new Audivina LE is a retake of the original Audivina, but it repacks the headphone using new materials that, although not as exotic as in the original version, could put the Audivina LE ahead of its predecessor. Especially since this model comes with some sonic refinements.

Features

The new HIFIMAN Audivina LE has three main features besides being a closed-back design headphone.

Those features are the HIFIMAN exclusive Stealth Magnet design, the Neo Supernano Diaphragm, and the second-generation headband, all HIFIMAN exclusive designs.

The Audivina LE is a similar-looking headphone to the original Audivina, but a lot has changed, in my opinion.

HIFIMAN paid close attention to soundstage quality and was inspired by the Bayreuth Festspielhaus on this one, which is a performance theatre in Germany with some of the best acoustics around.

The Audivina LE is also one of the few HIFIMAN headphones that come with three cables. They usually include one cable, and that’s all the way up their headphone lineup, including upscaled models like the Arya Organic. You have to upgrade to the HE1000 and above the 2k line to receive three cables.

Design

The Audivina LE cups are rather large and share the same basic design on the outside as the original. Even the silver HIFIMAN H logo insert and the center crease of the first Audivina have been passed on to the new LE model.

But this time, the cups are made from a hard polymer, which makes it easier to design and shape the interior of the cup. It also makes it easier to perform surface texturing to tune the cups further.

This allowed HIFIMAN to precision-tune the bass response to obtain a better balance within the low frequencies and work on obtaining a wide soundstage and a proper tune from a sealed cup design.

Stock Pads

Somehow, I feel that these pads are stiffer compared to the other headphones that HIFIMAN introduced simultaneously with the Audivina LE, even though they’re the same-sized pads. That was my first impression.

But HIFIMAN certainly threw a curveball here because these do not use the 6-point mounting system like the other new models. They’re actually attached via velcro. Even though I like the idea, now we have another style of pad floating around, which is bemusing.

I would like this to be standardized on all their headphones, and truthfully, I wish they all attached this way. HIFIMAN finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel here.

And of course, the asymmetrical design makes it naturally comfortable because your entire ear fits inside these cups with room to spare.

Comfort & Isolation

To elaborate on comfort, although the Audivina LE pads seem to be stiffer and the clamping force to be slightly increased, they still provide an acceptable comfort level.

One that can be tolerated for hours, although I do not recommend these for people with large heads because their headband expansiveness is limited.

My opinion is that the Audivina LE has a touch more clamping force, and I think it’s because of the thickness of the cups and pads. They tend to be thicker cups compared to their other models, including the new models, the Edition XV and the Ananda Unveiled.

The pads themselves don’t seem to use memory foam since they use a very fast-reacting foam, but they’re comfortable, nonetheless. They provide just a bit of tension in fit compared to the others, and the clamping force is also a bit elevated.

Weight was an important factor for HIFIMAN, it seems, so they managed to keep the weight down, but not by much. For reference, the original Audivina weighed in at 470 grams, and the Audivina LE is below that at 449 grams.

Stock Cable

One of the nicest surprises I found unboxing the Audivina LE was that there were three cables, giving you ample connectivity options that only omit the 4.4mm plug, which I truly wished this set had. I would have preferred the 3.5mm option with an adapter and a 4.4mm cable instead.

The other two are strapped with a 4-pin XLR connector, and the other with a fixed 6.35mm connector. With the 3.5mm cable, it totals 3 cables. The 6.35mm and the XLR cable are ten-footers, while the 3.5mm is a six-footer.

The assembly and quality seem to be borrowed from HIFIMAN’s crystalline copper line of cables, which are rubber-insulated and very flexible.

However, the tips are all rubber-coated with rubber strain reliefs. That’s the only luscious aspect you don’t get with these stock cables, no metal connectors.

They’re acceptable cables and function well with nothing to complain about. They sure beat HIFIMAN’s Copper Silver line.

However, if you feel you need a better cable, HIFIMAN always uses a 3.5mm connectivity with a positive tip. It’s easy to find aftermarket cables that work well with their headphones.

Packaging & Accessories

The Audivina LE unboxing experience is not the same as the old days when HIFIMAN packed all their headphones inside leather-covered boxes.

Now they come in a plain box with a laminate over the top that doubles up as the seal, ensuring you get an unopened, virgin box.

Inside, you’ll find the headphones nestled inside the semi-hard storage case and the three cables inside a plastic bag. There’s not much else to talk about here. This is a non-dramatic unboxing experience.

Sound Impressions

I wanted to have some fun with the Audivina LE, so I broke out the Rose Technics RT-5000 and used a Meze Audio upgraded all-silver cable with 4.4mm connectivity to see if the Audivina LE would go into excessive brightness territory.

I also used their XLR balanced stock cable on the SMSL SU-X and SH-X stack. I also used the EF400 and the EF600 HIFIMAN DAC amplifiers to see if I could obtain a typical HIFIMAN sound from the Audivina LE, which I generally didn’t.

Summary

The first thing I did was run a tone sweep test to see if I could hear any abnormal peaks or dips in the frequency response, like I did with the original Audivina.

I heard a nice and even bass response below 200Hz down to 25Hz, which, at that point, the bass becomes ineffective.

It also starts to dip around 32Hz. There were peaks at 1kHz and at 2.3kHz, but they were almost insignificant. Plus, I heard a dip around 3.5kHz. The high frequencies also produced a 10k spike.

Although there seem to be some peaks and valleys here, the auditory sense you get is of general balance, since all the frequency bands complement each other well in quantity and quality.

I wouldn’t consider the Audivina LE for studio work or for critical listening. It’s a fun headphone to listen to that has a larger soundstage compared to other closed-back models.

But what surprised me the most was that again, the typical HIFIMAN bright signature was gone, and instead, you get a slightly dark presentation, good bass response, vivid mids, and treble that’s well behaved and well defined. Redemption?

The Audivina LE is reminding me of the rest of this rollout, which attempts to address heavy-handed high frequencies, or what’s considered a bright tuning since they’re obviously aiming for better balance and an overall sonic character that is easy on the senses and mass appealing.

Bass

The Audivina LE bass response is quick, but more importantly, the bass is produced with a small emphasis in the 60Hz to 120Hz area that gives the bottom end some presence and body.

There’s a small taste of pudginess in the bass response that makes it interesting to listen to.

Some might consider the bass to be elevated and heavy-handed handed but not me, because I like the weight aspect these headphones produce.

The bass is controlled and remains relatively neutral with a small emphasis in the midbass area that displays fast decay regardless of coming through dense and thickish.

The bass won’t satisfy pure bassheads, or perhaps it will to some extent. But its definition is somewhat impressive for a closed-back. Drums hit cleanly, and basslines never obscure vocals or midrange instruments.

Midrange

The Audivina LE mids are clean, slightly forward, and transparent. Vocals sit neatly in the mix without being overly intimate.

Acoustic instruments, pianos, strings, and brass sound natural and well-etched. However, the tonal body can sound a touch unimpressive compared to other HIFIMAN headphones like the Ananda Unveiled.

Vocal production comes across with plenty of body, but can also sound condensed in the center. These headphones display a rise in the upper mids that starts around 2k, giving the midrange a lift in presence.

Simultaneously, and holding to the above-stated, there’s a dip around the 4k area that calms and quells the midrange, giving the overall tonality some placidity and a tranquil output, along with contributing to the overall warm character.

However, there’s a trade-off here. The mids are leaner and lighter than some other headphones in the HIFIMAN lineup. Note weight is somewhat lacking, and some listeners will feel that the mids come across as anorexic in vocals or instrumentation.

Upper mids may be a bit centralized, so vocals or some instruments could feel slightly more in focus or forward than other parts of the spectrum. The best part is their tonal balance, which strikes a balance between lots of presence and a soothing performance.

Treble

Okay, something has obviously changed over at HIFIMAN because the Audivina LE is not a bright headphone per se. Neither are some of their recently released headphones.

In my opinion, HIFIMAN is listening to their customers and addressing the biggest issues with their sonic presentation.

Here’s an example: the high frequencies are in better balance with the rest of the audible spectrum on this set. This tuning keeps the highs gentle but well defined.

At times, the high frequencies can come across as dark. However, the tuning remains on the revealing side, and poor recordings or treble-heavy masters can sound edgy. Good recordings bring out the best of the Audivina LE and provide some fine details.

The treble extends smoothly with good air and sparkle. There’s a subtle lift in the upper treble that enhances detail retrieval. There’s a peak around 10k that gives cymbals and harmonics a lively shimmer without sounding overly sharp.

That said, the tuning can feel a little aggressive up top for some ears, especially around that 10k peak. There’s a chance of the highs being a bit bright or etched for some

Comparatively speaking, and using previous recollected HIFIMAN tuning implementations, you might find the high-frequency tuning more natural and relaxed than preceding tuning implementations.

Staging & Dynamics

One of the small discrepancies I found with the Audivina LE soundstage is that vocals tend to conglomerate around the front and center, giving off a narrow phantom channel effect that could benefit from some width and depth production as well.

Only on tracks that separate vocals do you get the separation effect. Other than that, there is a limited height amount along with small amounts of rear projection and placement that, although not world-class, manage to produce a decent sense of spaciousness.

Simple tracks like Hell’s Bells by AC-DC extract a lot of separation from the Audivina LE, particularly the beginning of the track, right after the bells ring, which sounded large on this headphone.

Click on page 2 below for my recommended pairings and selected comparisons.

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